Freedom
by captainofswanandqueen
Summary: Regina runs away from her abusive magical mother in an attempt to gain her freedom. However, she makes a mistake in dealing with The Dark One— a deal that requires her to steal from a pirate — resulting with her and Captain Hook to end up in the apartment of a bewildered woman named Emma Swan. Possible Swan Queen or Evil Hook, depending on votes.
1. Chapter 1

Sprinting into the stable, Regina failed in blinking back the tears that stung her eyes. She took deep, wallowing breaths before she finally acknowledged the stable boy, Daniel. He smiled at her, but all she could do was grimace.

Then, her mind was set. Then, she knew what she wanted to do.

"Get a horse ready for me, immediately." she commanded.

"But milady—"

"Just do it!" she snapped. While she started pacing— he got to work— the straw scuffled under her boots, which scraped the stone occasionally.

Regina's advantage was the lack of witnesses. Only Daniel would know she had asked for a horse. The disadvantage was that her mother had magic.

If her mother saw her… if her mother saw her, Regina doubted her own mother enough to believe she was heartless enough to hurt her. Or kill her. Regina shoved the thoughts away as her stomach squirmed with fear.

Finally, the stable boy handed her the reins of the finest horse her family owned. She looked up into his understanding eyes.

"Good luck," he told her, confirming her assumption; he had guessed right.

Simply, she nodded, keeping her face blank.

Her knees were so weak with uncertainty that had gradually building up that she could topple over. For the first time since her plan had formed, she felt a flicker of uncertainty. Did she really want to leave a life where she was sheltered, fed, clean? Did she really want to leave it all to a future of stumbling blindly through thorns and thickets?

She gripped the reign harder, and if her gloves were off, her knuckles would be white.

She wanted her freedom.

* * *

As soon as she galloped the horse out of the stables, across the wet grass with the damp night air rushing past her face, she felt exhilarated. Light hearted. Not a thing did she regret.

In an absent minded trigger, she laughed while her hair whipped like the sails of a ship. Occasionally, she would bounce a little higher from the saddle, each time feeling like she could soar off it and into the sky. No magical manipulation. No lectures of acting like a lady. No overwhelming dresses and no punishments for wanting to be… her.

A dull ache remained in her mind as she was constantly reminded that she was also leaving her father behind. He loved her, not the bad way Cora claimed to love Regina. He supported her. But it just wasn't enough.

There was no way she was going to marry the king.

Eventually, her parents would find the letter that she had left amidst the clutter of her desk. Would they understand? Whatever they thought, it would never reach her again.

* * *

Groaning, Regina's eyes peeled open. All she could see was darkness from the oddly soft ground she was laying on. Along with an object that poked her back uncomfortably.

"What the bloody hell did you do?" a voice hissed beside her. Hook.

Instinct made her lash out and connect her fist with the man beside her, as was fairly reasonable considering their last encounter before blackness had claimed their minds.

After he let out a surprised yell of pain, Regina sprang up and stumbled through the dark. Surely there would be some source of light somewhere.

Like a startled deer, she froze when a rattling sound occurred somewhere to her right.

"Lass, is that you?" Hook whispered frantically.

Words were lost to her as she was too busy trying to distinguish the muffled noises behind the rattling. If she wasn't mistaken, there were people. Talking. Not the stiff way Regina and her mother always did so. In fact, it appeared the two were _laughing_ as well.

Light was normally a good thing. Yet when it revealed itself so suddenly upon her, Regina could say that she would much rather dive like a creature into the shadowy corners.

The light pooled from the door and stretched out to Regina, bathing her into the attention of a woman and a small boy, who were both open-mouthed.

Had Regina not been too tense with anxiety, she would have noticed the odd objects occupying the different parts of the room.

Regina stared— rooted to the spot— at the woman, whose eyes kept darting between her and Hook, who was sprawled on the floor and ominously eyeing the pair at the door. The boy blinked curiously as the woman slowly raised her hand to him, no doubt ready to usher him backwards.

"What the hell?" the woman muttered.

Hook swiftly stood up, backing toward Regina.

"Where's that contraption you took from me?" he murmured as the woman at the door reached for something in her pocket.

Regina's heart jumped to her throat

"You mean the one you stole?" she replied, scanning the floor. An inward part of her desperately hoped she wouldn't discover it in a different condition to how she had first found it.

"It's not like you did any better, lass." Hook retaliated. "Now where is it?"

"Oh no."

That was the object she had been laying on, which had quickly scattered from her mind.

Hook followed her petrified stare to the necklace she had stolen from Hook to return to The Dark One for a deal. One that engulfed her and Hook the moment she began fiddling with it in the frenzy of panic that had gripped her mind as Hook caught her beforehand trying to steal it.

It was broken. They were stuck here, and they had no idea where 'here' was.


	2. Chapter 2

_I do feel like I owe an apology; I've been off fanfiction for a long while due to the fact I was preparing for some exam finals. It was very irritating the friction the exams caused with my writing, but hey, it's over (for now). I intend to update every two days, and if given the time and luck, I will update daily, but we'll see._

* * *

"You're crazy."

"Well, lass, I've explained. Now if you'll _kindly_ let me go,"

"No."

Regina watched—amused despite her situation— the argument between the pirate and the strange woman. Obviously, Hook and her were not going to be freed, no matter how hard they pulled at the oddly shiny shackles that attached her to Hook and Hook to the table. _Yes, I am tied up to Captain Hook_. This would literally be the death of her if being stuck in an unknown world wouldn't.

"You said you'd let us go if we told you how we got here!" Hook snapped.

"And you assholes expect me to believe that you come from a land of fairy tales and decided to play with magic?" the woman retorted.

"Yes?" Regina quietly mumbled, but the two ignored her.

"Have you seen my hook, our clothes? How about you check out the damn thing that got us here right behind you?" Hook retaliated.

"Oh, yeah, two psychos dress up in Halloween costumes and break a pocket watch in my apartment. I'm totally buying it." The woman replied sarcastically.

Regina turned around just in time to see Hook rolling his eyes.

"You just don't want to be proven wrong; the bloody evidence is right in front of you!"

"I'm calling the cops."

Whatever the 'cops' were, Regina could tell it wasn't good. _It can't be as bad as mother_ , she argued to herself, in an attempt to covet some form of brightness in her long-earned freedom.

Since the moment the woman discovered the two in her apartment, she pulled out some shiny contraption which had Hook stiffening. The small boy was quickly ushered out of the door—accompanied with some muttered instructions—and the woman convinced Hook to stay still; Regina only obliged because of Hook hissing under his breath the consequence if she didn't— 'Your brains would be blown out before you could so much as say _shit_ '.

So here she was, watching with more curiosity than anxiety as the woman started slamming her fingers onto a strange looking thing. Turning to Hook, Regina tried to decipher the look in his eyes: the glint that told her he was planning something, the blue crashing like that of an angry storm, the black darting around like frantic prey from predator.

"Wait." Hook's voice shattered the humming of whatever was in the woman's hand.

"Like hell I will." She snapped.

"Wait! Lass, I can prove it to you. Check my satchel,"

Suspiciously, the woman eyed the satchel that was slung at the back of Hook's chair. When she asked an understandable question, he replied: "I didn't ask you to trust me, or her," he jerked his head in the direction of Regina. "I want to prove to you that we're telling the truth."

When the woman finally decided to finish her contemplation, she finally, _finally_ nodded. Strain in Regina shoulders from the tension had been growing without her notice.

"Show me what you got, then." If Regina wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn she had heard the woman mutter: " _What the hell are you doing, Emma?"_

* * *

Cheeks flushed, face raw, hands numb, Regina tied her horse up before entering a tavern. The excitement of the ride had begun to fade as she felt the familiar nails of cold digging into her skin, crawling through her flesh until she could easily resemble an icicle. _One whiskey couldn't hurt._ It really couldn't: it would warm her up, cheer her up and basically steer her emotions upwards in different ways.

The smell of sweat was not as overpowering as the sound of laughter. Her cheeks strained from lack of use, Regina felt the corners of her lips lift for the first time in a long while. This—somehow— felt a lot like home. _Not like I ever really had one_. Quickly, Regina cast away the bitter thought.

After entering the bar, she strode toward the bartender, taking her gloves off with her teeth before finally settling on whiskey. Ignoring the way the bartender leered at her before he began to prepare her drink, Regina closed her eyes as she heard the chatter, the howls of laughter, the groans of lost gambles, the cheers of won goods. She registered it closely, wanting to melt with it, trying not to fall asleep in the process.

"Would you like a drink, love?" _Right, Regina, this is why you should have_ not _gone to the pub._ Eyes flipping open, Regina snapped her glower reserved especially for the type of people that she would undoubtedly meet at a tavern… Like this very man who was smirking at her.

"You looked a little zoned out, lass." He tilted his head. "You don't look familiar. Perhaps a drink will help you settle in?"

"No, thank you." Her firm voice was laced in a monotone as warily she eyed the man. Looked like this man was a lover of leather; in addition, he had a lot of jewellery. _More than my mother_ , Regina contemplated. Suddenly, she felt the urge to snort, in which she swiftly suppressed.

"Your drink, milady." Regina thanked the bartender—secretly for the distraction he managed to create— and pointedly looked at the man before she turned away and took a sip.

"You know; most men would be put off by your demeanour. But… I _do_ love a challenge." _How about a challenge where I give your pretty face a good ol' punch?_ Deciding that attracting the attention of the tavern would not be to a huge advantage for her running away (considering how her mother probably already had a hunting party after her), Regina instead responded to the man by stating: "There are plenty of women in this very tavern for you to court. I am not interested."

"If the lady insists." That smirk was still in place, and it was quite infuriating.

"So go."

"I must say," he rose from his stool, a glint adorning his eyes. "I've not met many women like you, lass. Most of them would swoon before I even say a word."

Arching an eyebrow, Regina wasn't able to shut her mouth for just one second: "Most? I am greatly surprised that it is not a small amount, to be honest. I am surprised that not many women are put off by _your_ demeanour."

"Ooh," The man contemplated her with a faint smirk. "Tough lass."

"Can you go away?" _Maybe if you had shut up, he would have been back with his filthy drinking buddies._ In comparison to the man in front of her, literally every other person seemed to be a spouse to grime.

"Well, I suppose there isn't any point in wasting my time anymore," he bowed, smirking as he looked up again. His lingering presence made her squeeze the handle of the whiskey cup in irritation.

"Killian Jones at your service," bowing, he raised his head, "or my more colourful moniker: Captain Hook." With the way he watched her expectantly, Regina wondered whether he was awaiting a reaction.

"And?" _If you are really at my service, you'd be long gone by now,_ was what she wanted to hiss to him, but hostility could be dangerous to her whole escape. All the while, the word _Captain_ echoed in her head; this man certainly was no member of any royal army. As far as she was concerned, the navy didn't drink, didn't wear leather, jewellery or the makeup her own mother wore. _Regina, stop this comparing thing with this man and your mother, otherwise you will end up abruptly hysterically snickering and look undoubtedly like a madwoman._

The so called 'Captain' erupted with laughter. _Right on cue._

"You've never heard of me, love?"

"Don't call me love," she snared. _Getting annoyed at him_ , she noted, _will only be a fuel for him to annoy her._ That was a mistake she swiftly jotted in her mind so as not to do again as he smirked broader than ever.

"You've never heard of me, _lass_?"

"No. Why would I?"

"Because I'm the notorious Captain Hook, of course!" he said in a mock shock.

"Doesn't ring a bell," Even as Regina said this, she felt a sliver of unease. _Captain_ was beginning to have an unnerving impact on her.

Chuckling, he confirmed the fear that had begun to coil inside her:

"I'm a pirate, lass."

Instantly, she stumbled off her stool, causing several people to attract their attention to her. Most of them barked with laughter, but Regina didn't care. The amount of stories that had been told to her about filthy pirates murdering innocent people replayed fresh in her mind. Abandoning her untouched whiskey, she raced out of the tavern and struggled to untie the rope of the horse in her panic. _How could you be so stupid, Regina? A tavern?_ _Of_ course there's _going to be pirates!_

She heaved herself in panic onto the horse. Ignoring the taunting, jeering laughter that followed her, Regina concentrated on making her horse awaken its senses. Regina let out an impatient huff; the damn thing began whining at being awoken before she pressed into its sides. It grudgingly started to trot. A harder squeeze made it canter away, across the cobbled street before she met the familiar pang of pinewood trees and fresh leaves. Into the forest.

* * *

 _I would like to thank Jesse Gutierrez, Guest and chhavi for reviewing, and for all of you for reading. In answer to your long ago asked question (sorry) chhavi, the pairings I have now established. It will be either Swan Queen or Evil Hook, but I need people to vote 'cause I love both these ships and cannot choose on my own. Please feel free to review..._


End file.
